Crime Control Policy

by

LAST REVIEWED: 01 November 2017

LAST MODIFIED: 30 March 2015

DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195396607-0039

Introduction

The literature on crime control policy has developed from several areas of study. Included among these areas are general descriptive studies of the operations of the crime control system (police, courts, and corrections), studies of the causes of criminal behavior in relation to the rehabilitation of offenders, critical inquiry into crime control policies and practices, historical studies of crime control, studies of crime control reforms, studies of get-tough crime control policies, and studies aimed at linking crime control knowledge to public policy. A theme emerging from this literature has been a recognition of the patterned capacity of various crime control policies and reforms to have unintended consequences.

General Overviews

There are a number of criminal justice textbooks that provide introductory and largely descriptive information on the formal criminal justice system. These textbooks generally provide coverage of crime and criminal law, the police, the courts (such as prosecuting and sentencing of criminal defendants), corrections (such as prisons, parole, probation, and community corrections), and the juvenile justice system. In addition, there are edited volumes on crime control that provide more detailed assessments of the law, police, courts, and corrections. The introductory textbooks are suitable for beginning undergraduate students (see Schmalleger 2015, Cole and Gertz 2013, Peak 2011, Reid 2011, Bohm and Haley 2009, Del Carmen and Trulson 2005). The edited volumes provide more focused and detailed readings that are useful for graduate students and researchers studying particular crime control components (see Neubauer 2013, Cole 1993).